Harassed by a Cab Driver

I left Lucky Bar with one of my male friends and we walked home together. He lives a few blocks away, so we split up and I started walking down Corcoran St NW by myself. I noticed a white cab pull up next to me and start moving very slowly next to me.

The cab driver rolled down his window and asked if I needed a ride. I told him no I was fine, I was just going to walk. He continued to follow me, driving slowly next to me. He asked me several more times if I needed a ride and said “Why not? It will be free.” I kept walking faster until I reached 16 & Corcoran, where it was a one-way. I ran across the street and he honked and turned, laughing. It was extremely creepy and left me feeling unsafe in my own neighborhood.

Submitted by S on 6/12/2011

Location: 16 St NW & Corcoran St NW

Time of harassment: Late Night (12A-5A)

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2 Responses

cathy

ew. i hesitate to even mention this, because it makes me sound paranoid, but i hate the way taxis honk at women to see if they want a ride. as if we’re too shy or delicate to raise our arms to ask? this is a generalization, obviously, but cab drivers mostly creep me out. i’m sorry that happened to you.

DC_Union_Thug

I think that we can have the most impact on these types of disgusting behavior where there are clear, potential (and I emphasize ‘potential’) consequences for the harasser. So this guy in a cab has something to lose, as do WMATA employees, construction workers, the Trader Joes employee mentioned recently etc. And I think it all comes down to reporting these f*ckers to someone who has authority over them. In this case, calling 911, and verbally reporting the license plate # to the operator along with a statement that you feel threatened. I am willing to bet a conversation with a cop would make this guy re-think his behavior and possibly change. Maybe he’d still be a harassing jerk, but then again, maybe change would actually result.

Just to be clear, I’m not trying to give S a hard time, if she, or anyone else isn’t comfortable w/ reporting, then they shouldn’t.